The Go-Between
by jellyheart84
Summary: Swan Queen: Ruby finds herself at the center of Regina and Emma's forbidden romance, and an unwilling pawn in the fate of the entire town.
1. Frenemies

I hear a lot. Maybe that's because everyone, at some point in their week will make their way into Granny's. Maybe it's the wolf hearing.  
Fact: I used to dress like sort of a slut. Truth be told, I was never out banging one of the three single guys in Storybrooke, who are all desperate losers, I just liked to feel like I belonged somewhere else. Maybe 28 years of watching me totter around in heels and short-shorts made people feel like I could handle any of their secrets and fantasies. Or maybe the fact that every once in a while I morph into a monster makes them think I won't judge them.

I won't. I really don't. But sometimes I just don't want to get involved. I don't want to know.

I didn't want to hear Emma out when she walked in that night into Granny's. I was the only one on staff (aka, Granny had gone to bed early to marathon CSI) and the way she sunk onto the counter stool told me she wasn't going to heave herself off anytime soon. I could smell the forest on her, wet clay in her boot treads. The feathers of night birds, recently fallen: someone had taken a long walk.

She lives with her parents, believe me, I get it. Late nights out are kind of the only way to get enough privacy to stay sane. And her face looked so tense, the crease between her eyebrows so extreme, I poured the first shot for free just to put a smile on her face.

"Thanks Ruby." Emma took the first shot like a champ, but the second one loosened her jaw.

"She's going to be the death of me. She won't forgive me for accusing her of killing Archie. How the hell was I supposed to know there were two evil Queens? She takes everything I do so personally, like I'm supposed to know her and trust her somehow-"

"How many nights are you going to come in here and complain about Regina to me?" I almost said it aloud. Instead I checked myself at the last minute and said, "You should just sit down and talk with her. Get it all out in the open. She approached Archie before about therapy. Maybe he could act as an intermediary."

"I can't talk in front of her, I get too-" she shook her head. "Whatever. I mean, you used to be friends, a little bit, before I broke the curse?"

Friends? Had we been friends? It was hard to say. I had caught her checking me out a couple times, no doubt about it, even if she insisted on having Graham cart her around town in his cop car. When I think about my thoughts before the curse was broken , I remember feeling sympathy for her because it seemed so obvious to me she was playing some kind of role, some kind of role she felt like she should enjoy. But every once in a while I'd catch her unguarded look and feel like she was holding all the sorrow in the world inside her. Sort of the way Emma looks now.

"I guess. We got along okay. She talked to me a couple times…"

The bell over the door clangs and Emma's mouth snaps shut. Speak of the devil, I think unbidden. Regina is standing in the doorway, shaking an umbrella closed, her lip already pulling into a sneer at he sight of Emma. She shoots me a look and walks to the back booth. Guess I shouldn't have cleaned the grill.

"Be right back." I say to Emma, Emma motions to her drink.

"Hey- do you think you could bring her a shot of this?"

"What?" I almost laugh.

"I don't know. Just- something to cut the tension."

Tension is right. The air feels electric when the two of them are in the same space. The hair is standing up on the back of my neck but then I am part wolf so maybe I feel things more strongly. I pour a shot and take it to Regina's table on a tray.

"What the hell is that?" she says when I set it down in front of her, trying to keep a smile on my face and failing.

"It's a drink compliments of the lady at the bar."

"So poisen?"

"Not in small doses. It's Jack Daniels."

She holds it up and peers at it like a lab tech looks at a beaker. Then, with surprising fluidity she downs the shot and looks up at me. "Why am I pleasantly surprised Granny hasn't been watering down the liquor bottles? You can tell Ms. Swan thanks."

She already has, in a sense. I can hear Emma chuckling at the counter before I make my way back.

"The same thing had occurred to me about Granny." She peered up at me through her thick lashes.

"Take it easy." I laugh. "That's not just my boss you're talking about."

"Don't worry, I won't make you reach for the crossbow under the counter. I technically should make her get a license for that."

"Someone's been leafing through her police manual workbooks." I hear Regina's voice ring out. "I imagine they have big, colorful illustrations."

Emma spins to face across the room on her stool. "As a matter of fact, I have been brushing up on my duties as Sheriff. Not that many of them apply to our current situation. For some reason I can't find 'magical purple fog' in the index."

Emma turns back to me: her face is flushed, her eyes sharp, a hint of a smile plays around her mouth. She's alive again. "Bring us two more?" she says, before strolling over to the booth where Regina sits.

Thankfully, neither of them order food. Regina gets glasses of wine to follow her shots, Emma sticks to the hard stuff. Their voices dance through a banter and then there's laughter. It's sweet, and girlish. Then Regina says something cold and I hear a long, deadly silence. Emma slams down her tumbler and throws money on the counter as she barrels the hell out of there. I'm used to her unceremonious departure, but from the awkward silence that suddenly fills the room I can tell Regina is not. I hear her clear her throat delicately and she makes her way over to the counter, pulling a purse from under her arm.

"I guess you can close up now." She says, her mask back in place. "Thanks for waiting on us."

And because I'm an idiot, I say this to her: "You should know that she feels really bad about how things are between you now. I hope that comes across. I can tell she really blames herself for accusing you of killing Archie and starting all this going again."

Regina's eyes look soft again. "Oh? It's funny how she never manages to say anything of the kind herself."

"Emma is…" Just like you: completely divorced from her real emotions. "…think of how she pushed Henry away. She was ready to leave him for good and that's someone she loves more than anyone. So a frenemy is like- waaay out of her depth."

"A frenemy?" Regina smiles and pauses as if about to say more. She might sit down on the stool, I worry. I want to go home, get in bed, check my email…all that good stuff. But I feel like I can't leave, I'm rooted in place waiting for some kind of revelation.

"Well. If you see her again, please tell her thanks for the her frenemy. I owe her one."

And that's how it started.


	2. The Night Shift

I spent my day off from the diner with Snow. She wanted to get in some target practice and I didn't mind brushing up on my own aim with the cross bow. Her mind seemed to run on one track these days: getting back to the Enchanted Forest, setting Emma up as some sort of folk-hero Saviour Princess, bringing things back to the way they were.

"Won't you miss some of the stuff here?" this was a question I constantly asked myself.

"Like what?" Snow snorted, taking dead aim on the center of her target.

""Like, I don't know…the internet? Lady Gaga? Using a band aid instead of some gross poultice for a paper cut? I don't know. I might be like, a multi-dimensional kind of lady. Maybe I'll just spend my summers in the enchanted forest." I remembered the deep winters in my home village and shuddered. The thought of spending seven months tending a fire and stitching clothes made me shudder.

"Ruby, its not going to be that simple.: " We can't just leave the beanstalk growing after we go back. For one thing, it would be really hard for the outside world to miss a giant tower in the sky."

" As soon as we get to the top…" she looked at me, debating whether or not to confide something clearly huge in me. Because I am me- her best friend, and also a giant walking journal for all of Storybrooke-she took a step closer and started whispering. "We're going to burn it."

My eyebrows went way, way up. "Wow. Okay. That'll make the news."

"It will mean We can't take the chance that Regina will follow us up."

I didn't say anything, but of course the first thing I thought of was Henry. For the last decade I'd thought of him as Regina's kid and I still sort of did. Even if he was infatuated with Emma and swordplay these days…surely he'd miss Regina? And I was damn sure Regina wouldn't give him up without a fight.

"You'd come with us, now that you know that, right?" Snow looked at me. She was too kind to pressure me, but I could tell she was holding her breath.

"If that's my choice, then of course, I'll always go with you." My voice didn't waver. She squeezed my hand with a smile spreading across her face. I felt weird though. When I raised my crossbow the arrow missed the target by a long shot.

* * *

I saw Emma that night, as I walked down the stairs from Snow's place. She was clearly on her way up, the end of a long day, her face clouded.

"Oh hey." I waved a little. "Earth to Emma. You look lost in thought."

"Hey." She smiled at me. "Just tired. Snow said you'd be over today, I was hoping you'd stick around for dinner?"

"I wish, but I promised I'd do the night shift again at Granny's…" part of me wanted to just keep walking, but I'm just too much of a girl scout to know when to keep my mouth shut. "By the way, Regina asked me the other night to say thanks for the drink."

"Oh." Emma tried not to look interested and failed. "What exactly did she say?"

"She said 'thanks, from a frenemy' And that she owes you one."

Emma smiled, a small, sweet smile. "Frenemy. Huh." She tilted her head. "Well, I'll probably be at Granny's tonight around nine. Who knows, tell her if she comes in I'm definitely going to call that bluff."

Was that…did I have to say that to Regina? Was that the implication? Better not to even ask, I told myself, and with another wave trotted down the stairs.

* * *

I found myself watching the clock with a knot in my stomach after Regina strolled in at 8:15. Typically, we get a customer in and out in about 20 minutes. Regina ordered just a tea, and I worried I wouldn't be able to keep her around that long. I brought her coffee first, as though I'd forgotten, and when she (gently- when she wants to, she can make her voice like a piece of silk) reminded me she'd asked for tea, I brought her the wrong kind.

"I'm sorry, is it a full moon?" she asked with one eyebrow up, which made me sort of furious. It's basically like if someone asks you if you're on your period. "I thought I asked for Earl Grey… Twice."

"Whoops. I'll be right back with the Earl Grey-"

"You know what, I'm sure this-" she looked at the bag "'Razzleberry'…will be just fine."

I went back behind the counter and lost myself in filling orders with a leaden conscience. I knew Emma had wanted me to tell Regina she'd be there at nine. But I also did not want to get involved with Snow's daughter smoothing things over with her Evil Stepmother. It was just too many criss-crossing royalties to navigate on top of orders. Not that there were a ton of those coming in. The crowd was dying down, people trickling out. Just a few couples in the booths up front, and Belle quietly reading at the counter. Can I still call her Belle? She's Belle, even if she doesn't know it. And she's able to look after herself now, even if she has to see Archie every day for attempts to unlock her memories with "regression therapy".

Eventually Regina waltzed up to the counter at 8:50 with a handful of crisp bills, trying ot catch my eye as I wiped down the countertop.

"You know what…" I looked frantically around me for some excuse to stall. "You should really try the pecan pie I just took out of the oven. There's something about it when it's really warm- Belle? Regina? What do you say to a slice on the house?"

"I'm more of an apple filling person." Regina was buttoning up her coat. "But thanks."

"You know, I think Emma should be here in a few minutes, maybe I should put a piece aside for her, she loves pecan pie." I said, like a total idiot, with all the subtlety of a fire alarm as usual, putting a plate in front of Belle and taking Regina's money to my till. I saw, in my peripheral vision, Regina sit on one of the stools.

"Oh?" Regina looked at the dessert. "You know, Henry's asked me to make pecan pie for him before. I don't suppose you'd part with the recipe?"

I have a partner in stalling now. I can feel it, when I lock eyes with Regina, I can tell from how calm she is, and how INTERESTED she is in this recipe all of a sudden. How many eggs? What kind of pecans? She doesn't care. Nothing I say is registering. Like me, she's burning down the minutes, waiting, hoping, praying Emma is on time.

The door clangs at 9:01 and Emma walks in, shaking the cold off her shoulders. Her eyes rest on Regina and her face lights up. She's Snow's daughter. She can't hide that glow when it fills her. She puts a hand on her hip and cocks her head at Regina.

"I'm thirsty." She says. Regina crosses her arms.

"Good, because after tasting the kind of gasoline you guzzle I've decided it's time you learned something about wines." She looks at me, hiding her excitement behind stiff raised eyebrows. "Ruby, if you don't mind, could you bring over a glass of merlot, a glass of pinot noir, and a glass of cabernet to the back booth?"

"You mean where you just were?" I mumble. "Sure!"

Regina turns and stalks over to the back corner, Emma follows Regina with her eyes for just an instant before following right after her. Belle turns to me with one eyebrow up.

"They're cute. They have a son together, don't they?"

"Yeah." I lean against the counter, almost shaking with relief, and then realize what Belle means. "Except not like that! They're not- they're not together."

"Divorced?" Belle says in a whisper.

"No…no they were never- I mean, I don't even know if either of them are even…"

"Oh, they are." Belle nods, sweeping up a bite of pie. "Trust me. I don't mean to pry and hey, I've never met either of them before but…" she pauses and we both hear their laughter float from the back booth. I set out three glasses and fill them to the half point, frowning.

"Look, in Maine gay marriage is legal and I'm truly proud of that : but for completely different, separate reasons, those two absolutely can NOT…EVER…" I cross my arms and lean against the counter. "Trust me when I say… it's complicated."

"When the attraction is that strong, it has a way of simplifying things." Belle says, her cheeks pink. "I'm sorry to be so gossipy. I'm just so eager to have something to talk about. This town is sort of closed off to strangers."

"You're not a stranger." I manage, and take the three glasses to the back booth.

To be Continued...


	3. Stood Up in A Rainstorm

**Author note: Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 were the same document for a while last night. I've corrected the error & apologize for confusion!**

It's way past closing but I don't have the heart to take the check over to Emma and Regina. I wonder distantly if they've ever really had the chance to sit down like this together. Belle takes my cleaning rag right out of hands to mop the tables at ten thirty. I suspect it's so she can move close enough to the booth for her non-wolf ears to eavesdrop. I am trying my hardest to block out their conversation but pieces keep floating into my ears, no matter how hard I try to focus on washing the coffee pots.

"Henry really misses you." Emma says at one point.

"A fresh start? With me? How is that even possible." Regina says later. When she does its not her words that get my attention, its her heartbeat, as fast as a fox being chased through the woods.

Emma stands up when Regina slides out of the booth and practically walks her to the door. "What do we owe you, Ruby?" Emma says, pulling out her wallet, but Regina makes a gesture.

"Actually, it's on me. You can get next time."

I feel Emma's heart almost trip on its own beat at this, and she nods, playing it off, casual. "Okay. " she says. I am screaming in my head, next time, find another bar! One your mom's best friend doesn't work at, please!

"Walk you to your car?" Sheriff Swan says.

"Miss Swan, I'm probably the single most dangerous creature in Storybrooke." Regina laughs as they walk through the door. "I don't exactly need an escort."

"I believe it." Emma says as the door closes behind them and muffles their laughter. Belle walks towards me with a triumphant little smile.

"I wish I'd made a bet with you about those two. I'd be stacking the bills now!"

"Are you short on cash?" I ask, pulling on my red coat.

"Not exactly…" Belle tilts her head. "I've got this benefactor through the hospital paying for my bills and treatment and apartment. This nice little old man named Mr. Gold."

I practically burst out laughing hearing her describe him this way. "Belle, I feel like you should know that Mr. Gold gets…kind of weird about people owing him things. He can really hold it over their heads." I clear my throat and give her a big smile. "I was going to say if you ever wanted a part time job, we could really use the help. And you seem to know your way around Granny's."

"I'd love to come help you." She says quickly. "When should I start?"

* * *

The next night, Regina comes in at 9:05, Emma is waiting at the far corner of the counter, watching the door. They both move to the back booth, the one almost out of sight of the other tables.

Granny stops in the next night to hand me some keys for the delivery guy and looks sharply at their table. "Those two seem to be having quite the tete a tete." She grumbles. "Does Snow know about this? You better tell her. "

"It's not my business." That's what I've been telling myself every time Snow asks, on one of our nightly phone conversations, how things are going at the diner. I'm not lying to Snow. I don't even know what's really going on. All I know is Regina and Emma have spent three nights sharing drinks. Is that so bad? Is that front page news?

"Any way Regina can hurt Snow, she will, and what better way than through her only child?" "Emma's not a child." I snap. This is starting to sound too much like one of our own fights.

* * *

The next night, Regina shows up right at 9 even though its storming hard outside. I had almost decided not to open for the evening but Belle called me from the diner and said she had flipped the grill on. We're the only two people in there when Regina walks in. She sits at the counter. And waits, and waits, and waits. She goes through three glasses of wine and picks up her car keys, I put my hand on her arm.

"Let me call you a taxi." I smile.

"Thank you." She says. When it comes, she walks out with her head held high, giving me a brave smile and wave. Belle, filling ketchup bottles across the room, gives me a sad look. I shrug as the bell clangs again, and Emma walks in almost breathless.

"Hey!-" she looks around gives me an expectant look. I force her to acknowledge what she's asking me by crossing my arms and raising my eyebrows.

"Hey Emma." I say slowly. "Table? Booth?"

"Did I miss her?" Emma says, her hair plastered to her face and there's genuine panic in her voice. " Was she here?"

I nod, and she turns and walks right back out of the diner. I watch her break into a run as she hits the sidewalk. Belle walks over and picks a black glove from off the floor. "I think Regina dropped this."

"It's a shame Emma didn't wait a few minutes, she could have taken it to her." I say, and Belle makes a little happy face.

"Can Iiiii take it over to them?" she asks, half-jokingly. "I feel like I'm about to miss a big kiss in the rain."

But he fates are not that kind to me. When I I march the small bag of trash out to the back, I see Regina in the ally behind the diner, in Emma's arms. Did she come back for the glove? Did she come back, hoping against hope that Emma would show? Did they meet halfway? They must have met halfway. And then hidden, out of sight of the streetlights and the Storybrooke locals.

The rain is falling down hard and their faces are pressed against each other. I can smell, even through the rain, Regina's perfume- it smells like white flowers with dark leaves. I can hear Emma's racing heartbeat as she clutches her and Regina's heart keeping up, beating wildly in time. I stand against the wall and cover my mouth with my hand. I can't tear my eyes away. As much as I want to turn around and let this moment be for them, I can't help it. Regina looks…happy. Purely, truly, little kid on Christmas morning happy. Emma looks like she's glowing in the dark, like a form made out of blown glass. Against all my better sense and all my deeper loyalties, I just feel so incredibly happy for them. It makes the world suddenly seem like a better and more beautiful place that two people can make each other this happy- certainly more happy than I ever expect to be. I walk back into Granny's with tears in my own eyes and go into the pantry for a moment until I can pull myself together.

* * *

Snow and I have plans to go shooting the next morning. I consider staying in and pleading a stomach bug, but I know I can't lie convincingly. We walk silently side by side under the trees, which send down scattered, ice-cold drops from last night's rainstorm.

"Emma didn't come home until early this morning." Snow shoots her eyebrows up at me and inclines her head, her cheeks going pink. "Did you see if she came into the dinerat all with Neal last night?"

"With Neal? Nope." Not a lie. I fight to change the subject. "Have you told Emma about the beanstalk plan? Do you think there will be a conflict with Neal wanting to stay in New York?"

"It worries me. But… _I _think there's a good chance he might end up coming with us." Snow smiles at me knowingly. "I see the way he looks at her. In the happy ending I'm hoping for, I think Henry might end up with his family back together."

Except the only mom he's ever known, up until six months ago, I think silently. "What about Belle? She doesn't remember the Enchanted Forest. She can't really make a choice, can she?"

"She'll go wherever Mr. Gold decides." Snow shrugs. "He'll take care of her." for a moment I literally see red. I feel a growl at my throat. That's how intense my anger is. But I've learned to control myself. It takes me a moment, but I get myself under control.

"So Regina isn't allowed to come back but _is _?" I stop and put my hands on my hips, looking hard at Snow.

"Well, that will probably depend on where Neal goes. The fact is we need Gold's help to get out of here with Regina following us. He's agreed to cloak beanstalk with magic until everyone who wants to go back has gone up there. Before Regina catches on."

"I see." I imagine Regina waking up in an empty town. Her son gone. Granny's closed. Emma no where to be found. I can't believe Emma would allow that now- not after seeing the way she held Regina last night. "Any ETA on this plan?"

Snow can tell I'm troubled. She just doesn't get why. "Maybe a couple weeks? A month at the most." She looks at me, her beautiful face small and pinched with worry. "You don't like this. You don't like the beanstalk plan."

"I just don't know if I can adjust to…to the lack of technology. And how much stronger the wolf side of me is over there. And being a- a peasant villager in petticoats and a corset again instead of someone with equal rights." I laugh nervously to mask how angry just the thought of most of this makes me. "We weren't all princesses over there, you know?"


	4. Passing Notes

I left for home as soon as I'd gone through my arrows, the air tense between me and Snow, my hackles up. Snow made a point of trying to lead the conversation back to all the improvements she had planned for the Enchanted Forest. I didn't want to get into it with her. I couldn't trust my temper.

* * *

Snow doesn't know Belle very well. She doesn't know that Belle left Mr. Gold after the curse broke- or at least tried to. That her feelings for him, in my opinion, were basically Stockholm syndrome to begin with. That Gold made Belle sleep in a dungeon back in our world and deep down, he scared her. Truly scared her. I think about this as I watch Belle jotting down orders at the diner, smiling at customers, master of her own world. She saw me looking and made a bee line over to the counter, her eyes bright.

"It's eiiight thiiirty." She trilled.

"You're obsessed."

"I just want to see how the morning after went." She made a goofy, exaggerated wink at me that pulled me out of myself enough to laugh.

At 8:55 Emma came in. My jaw almost dropped because she was wearing a dress. A red, figure-hugging dress and _heels_. Paired, in true Emma style, with her leather jacket. She leaned on the counter and gave me an embarrassed smile, her stance pleading with the world not to make too big a deal of it.

"Well, YOU look nice." Belle almost sang, sliding a blue plate special towards Marco, whose jaw was also on the floor.

"I get in those moods too sometimes." I gave Emma a smile. "Sometimes I pull out all the stops just to remind myself I can. Back booth?"

Emma nods. "Yes please."

Before I can walk her over, the bell clangs again and _Snow_ steps in, all smiles. Oh. No. What is she doing here? She squeezes my arm and pecks Emma on the cheek and I try to hide my surprise. "My gosh you look nice Emma. I thought I saw you stepping out all dressed up but I never dreamed you'd just be going to Granny's!"

The bell clanks at the end of her sentence as Regina walks in. If she's wearing anything special its hidden under her trenchoat, but I notice her hair is up. I expect her to react but she's been hiding her feelings for too long and she sweeps past Emma and Snow with a most dismissive sneer. I grab a menu, smiling apologetically at Snow, and follow Regina to the back booth where I know she's headed. She slides into her usual seat, her back to the rest of the diner, and for just a moment puts her head in her hands. Then she turns to me, mask back in place.

"Earl Grey?" I say.

"You guessed it."

Snow has parked herself across from Emma at an open table. She's taking off her coat, pulling off her gloves, making herself at home. Emma darts a look over her shoulder at me. Her face is pale. That crease is back between her eyebrows. After I drop off two sodas at their table Emma follows me back to the counter, her glass in hand.

"Hey Ruby. Could you put a shot in this?" she looks over her shoulder. "I told her you accidentally gave me diet, if she mentions it. Also…" she leans closer, "could you give this to Regina when you bring her her bill?" she extends a folded up note, clenched between her fingertips. I feel my face turn red.

"You _know_ I'm Snow's best friend, right?" I say through gritted teeth. Emma looks abashed for a moment and backs away, but I catch Emma's arm and palm the note. Without another word I slip it in my front pocket and her grateful look melts my heart enough for me to soften my tone. And go heavy on the shot in her coke. "Look." I whisper through gritted teeth. "You need to figure out what is going on before someone gets hurt. Regina maybe evil but she no one deserves a broken heart, and that's what's going to happen with this whole beanstalk thing."

"Beanstalk thing?" she looks puzzled.

Snow hasn't told her yet!? "Ask Snow- now." I growl.

But before Emma can even make it back to her table, the door clangs again and Neal walks in. Snow waves hi, and gestures for him to come sit with them. Emma's face goes slack and she looks at me helplessly.

"How do I get out of this?!" she whispers. I shrug.

"Tell your mom the truth?" You're dating her worst enemy. I grab a merlot bottle and a glass and walk it down the diner to Regina.

"Here's the vintage you asked for." I say, slipping the note under the bottle. I make a big show of uncorking it at her table, while I wait for her to read the note. She looks up at me, her eyes wet.

"Quite the upgrade from Earl Grey…Who's he?" she asks at last, a gloved finger pointing discreetly behind us.

"Neal? He's…Henry's biological dad."

"Right." She grimaces. I can hear her heart thrashing at my words.

"Snow asked him to meet her here. Emma had no idea he was going show up. I think she's truly embarrassed he's here."

Regina is glaring at me. "It's a matter of supreme indifference to me."

"Right." I hiss back at her.

I was about to flounce off with the corkscrew still jammed in the cork- let her Majesty open her own wine- when I hear her say my name, so low that if I didn't have wolf ears, I wouldn't have heard it. Maybe she was hoping I wouldn't. I turn and she's holding out the note, with a response written on the back.

"Thank you." Regina says the words like they're a foreign language and she's not quite sure of the meaning. Because I'm a complete idiot, I take the note. I think that was officially me being a bad friend to Snow, taking that note. After that moment, I knew whose side I was really on.

Fifteen, twenty minutes later, I can smell Snow tailing me. She smells like forest, the stale feathers of her arrows, sweet soap and the soft, personal smell of a hand-knitted yarn scarf. I can sense she's anxious to talk to me. It's almost my changing time, and the wolf part of me is higher on nights just before.

"Red…" I turn at her plaintive voice. "I'm sorry about today. I hope you know how much I love and value you." She turns and looks at Emma and Neal, who are pushing pie pieces around their plates. "I'm going to get out of their hair, let them enjoy their pie together-" she twinkles at me, clearly playing matchmaker, "but I thought I'd surprise them by paying their bill."

"Sure…Snow…" I lean toward her. "How much have you told Emma about the beanstalk plan?"

She looks a little irritated. "She knows we're growing the beanstalks."

I get close and drop my voice as low as I can. "Does she know you want to _burn them_ and stay in the Enchanted Forest forever?"

Snow looks very guilty. "I was hoping we could get her used to the idea once she was up there."

"Snow!" I hiss. "Snow, that's messed up and you know it."

"She runs." Snow's eyes go dark. She clenches my sleeve in her fist, and I can feel her panic. "Red you've seen it. She ran from Henry. She tried to run from Storybrooke. She ran from being the Saviour. She doesn't know how to handle getting what she wants. You think she'll let herself accepting being a Princess? I know she won't, at first. But it's her destiny. It's her happy ending."

"Snow if Emma ran then what is she doing in Storybrooke right now?" And, I remember, she hasn't gotten her note. Crap. "If you don't tell her Snow, I will."

Snow looks stunned. "You wouldn't do that to me. You know I can't lose her again."

* * *

Grumpy intercepts me before I can head over to Emma's table: he asked for pepperjack cheese on his burger, not cheddar . I feel Regina staring at me, I hold up my hand with the note in my fingertips so she knows I haven't passed it yet. I should probably spin some plates and juggle some spoons while I'm at it, I'm keeping so much up in the air right now. I look down at the note as I fetch out my order pad to jot down a quick order someone calls at me and see written, in Emma's stark, architectural block printing:

_I meant everything I said last night. I want us. _

I force myself to stop reading and walk to Emma and Neal's table. Emma grabs my hand and I hear her heart jump as the folded paper with Regina's response presses into her palm.

"Ruby, meet Neal!" she's suddenly bubbly. "Neal, this is Ruby, my mom's best friend."

"And the co-owner of this diner, who's working a shift right now." I say pleasantly, but she yanks me down to the bench and before I know it we've swapped places. I see her hurry down to the back booth and grit my teeth, staring across at Neal, who is giving me a smile.

"So who did you used to be?" he asks. I sigh.

"A werewolf. Still am." I say curtly. I look across the room and see Belle, her eyes cutting to me as Grumpy gestures angrily toward his burger. Yikes.

"Wow. That's…really sexy." His eyebrows shoot up. Emma, I hate you. I so hate you. Without a speck of manners, I train my hearing on the back booth. It's not hard because Regina can barely keep her voice down, and it shakes with rage.

"It's pretty obvious what's going on there with that little family reunion. Snow wants Henry's mommy and daddy back together." Regina's voice crackles with pain. She's clearly been doing some stewing n her booth.

"Wow. I really thought you could let go of your…insane, obsessive hatred of_ my mom_, but clearly-"

Regina laughs bitterly."I never said I could. You really don't know who you're in bed with, do you?"

Emma's whisper, hurt: "What happened to our clean slate?"

"_Our_ clean slate. You, and me, and Henry."

"You can't ask me to choose between you and my mom. Snow would never ask me to choose between her and you." That's right Emma, she has no intention of asking you at all, I think.

"That's because you would never tell her about me." Regina's voice snaps and I hear the quick click of her high heels. In another moment she passed through my peripheral vision, the trenchcoat falling open with her stride and exposing far up her leg, and I realize she's been naked under the trenchcoat the whole time. Talk about a sexy date gone wrong. She sweeps out of the diner into the night and I decide to put the wine on Emma's tab.


	5. The Designated Driver

It's a Friday night so it takes longer for Granny's to empty out. Emma is slumped over the table of the back booth, angrily punching the call button on her phone, the wine bottle now empty.

She looks at me, her face ashen. "She won't pick up."

I don't even ask who. "Let me give you a ride home."

"I can walk." She says gruffly, pulling herself to her feet and immediately falling into the booth. Someone is not used to heels.

"Emma, being my best friend's daughter occasionally has its perks. I'm not taking no for an answer." And I heave one of her arms over my shoulder, letting her steady herself and then marching her toward the door. "Can you stay til I get back? I won't be long." I ask Belle, and she nods. "Thanks." I mouth.

Emma crawls into the slung passenger side of my low-riders and bonks the crystal wolf ornament hanging from my rearview. She leans back and looks at me, her head lolling on the seat. "Please take me by her house. Please. I have to talk to her."

"Emma, while I'm sure _you_ don't mind getting thrown down Regina's sidewalk for the umpteenth time, I refuse to let that happen to that dress. It's too nice."

"She wouldn't." Emma then laughs a little to herself. "Okay, she definitely would." Suddenly she buries her head in her hands. "She thinks I'm ashamed of her. She thinks- but how am I supposed to tell Snow?! It was all screwed up before I even got here."

I start the car and point it towards Snow's place. "Look, Snow is absolutely right to not trust or like Regina. I mean, do I really have to give you the history lesson? Regina was a hard core killer witch in our world, and hell in this one she tried to frame your mom for murder, she's cost Snow her entire family, she-"

"Hey, I know- _believe me_ I know-" Emma groans.

"On the other hand." I am the worst friend ever, but what I'm about to say has been digging at me a long time. "I've never seen someone love a person more than Regina loves Henry. I could always tell she was strict and had _really_ high expectations for him, but even before you got here she was always ready to drop everything for that kid. And now she's letting him choose to spend time with your family, even though I can _tell_ it's killing her and she could use her power to keep him with her. And that…" I gulp. "…That goes a long way to redeeming her, in my eyes." I glance over at Emma, whose own huge green eyes are a little wet. She's staring forward at the road in front of us, hugging herself tightly.

"What did you mean before, about the beanstalk thing?" Emma looks up at me, slunched down beside me, absently playing with a curl of her hair.

"I mean that tomorrow, when you've had a full night's sleep and a huge glass of water, you need to sit down Snow and ask her to explain to you her full beanstalks plan. Because Aunt Red says so."

"Why can't Aunt Red just tell me?" Emma sits up a little. Her gaze is pretty focused. She's not as light a head as I thought. "Snow and James are really 'need to know basis' about Enchanted Forest stuff."

" Did you like the Enchanted Forest when you and Snow went back there?" I change the subject as casually as I can.

"Like it? What's to like?" Emma snorts. "It's a barren wasteland full of medieval soldiers and giant killer ogres. I still have nightmares about it."

Ogres? The ogres are back? Before I can even reply I see high beams in my rearview. It's…Regina's Benz tailing us?

"What the hell?" I say, pulling over by the side of the road. Regina is stepping out of her car. The wind whips her collar against her shoulder, exposing bare collarbone. I hear Emma gulp next to me, watching Regina slink over to the car.

"I've been waiting for Miss Swan to crawl out of that diner for the last hour." Regina says imperiously, ignoring me, her eyes fastened on Emma. "We've got some unfinished business."

These two. These two freaky freak-a-deaks. I put my hand over my face.

"I don't need to hear this." I try not to laugh. I look at Emma. "Your house is one block away." Emma gives me a heartbreaking smile.

"I should probably see what the Mayor has to say to me. Might be important Sheriff business."

"I'm so sure." I call after her. She's already hopping out of her side of the car, and I see her try and smoothly navigate the road with her heels- pretty smooth work, for a drunk newbie, I have to admit. In the red glow of my taillights I watch Regina sternly take her arm, her eyes fastened to Emma's red skirt that's riding up far above her knees. Emma's smile is coming back, her cheeks are bright pink. Their hearts are going like the feet of racehorses. I can feel the heat crackle between them. Regina's trenchoat buckle is not long for this world, I think to myself.

"You wore a dress." I hear Regina whisper. Through my car window. Over the wind. Wolf ears. I can't help it! Okay, I was listening a little.

"You asked me to." Emma's voice is thick and throaty.

* * *

I drive back to Granny's feeling slightly flustered, wondering if they'll even make it back to Regina's before the atomic sexual atmosphere I just witnessed takes over. As I approach the still lit-up door, I see Belle sitting at a sparkling counter, a book in her lap. She looks up and smiles when she sees me.

"Hey!" she hops up, her eyes sparkling, and it fully registers how lovely she looks in the soft blue of her white lacy t-shirt over her short jean skirt. Dessert smells waft from her, vanilla, rum, frosting. I want to grab her and eat her up- in the figurative sense. It's hard to restrain myself this close to a full moon from just grabbing her in my arms and kissing her neck, her throat, her smile. I put the counter between us and count up the till, forcing myself to think about numbers.

"I want you so badly its killing me." Belle says, and I whip around, startled.

She's holding the note, reading aloud, a playful smile on her face. "Pretty juicy stuff, huh? Guess where I found it."

My hand covers my mouth. Good thing she can't hears heartbeats because mine is chugging right now.

"Back booth. Crumpled up with the napkins. I don't know whose handwriting is whose but…" she lets out a low whistle. "It's a shame they left things on such terrible terms."

"Actually, they might be making up right now. Regina sort of intercepted us on the way home."

"NO!" Belle looks ecstatic.

"And I'm pretty sure she was naked under that trench coat."

Belle hops from foot to foot in a circle, making "squee" noises and giggling laciviously. Um, is she aware the effect this has on her figure? For a moment I can NOT look away. Not this close to a full moon Belle, please don't jump up and down near me this close to a full moon.

"Thanks for staying by the way." I look away at the nice, square, unsexy, un-bouncing tiles. "But if you want to head out I can finish up here."

"Aw come on, its Friday. Let's have some fun, can't we? Enjoy the nightlife?" Belle hops up on a stool and leans into me, her eyes as blue as summer sky. Frosting. She definitely has handled frosting recently. She must have snuck a fingerful of it because the smell seems to be coming directly from her lips.

" There's nothing doing in Storybrooke. Why do you think everyone comes here night after night after night?" I roll my eyes. "It's not just the pie. It's because we're the only 'nightlife' going in town."

Belle cocks her head to one side. "Well, how would you feel about…just like, going on a drive? I haven't really seen a lot since leaving the hospital."

Belle wants me to sit next to her in my low rider and drive her around? This close to a full moon? I can feel my hands shaking already. "I don't know…" I say uneasily.

Belle looks slightly embarrassed and picks her book off the counter. "You're right, it is pretty late. And I'm supposed to meet with Archie early in the morning. Well, I'll see you tomorrow." Her cheeks are turning bright pink. I can tell from the shift of her energy that she's super embarassed. I picture mounting the stairs to my room with Granny's snores wafting from the living room, the quiet blare of the TV bathing her in blue light. Belle is pulling on her jacket, her red face averted from mine.

"You know what, let's do it." I snap the till closed. "Let's live a little, Belle."

Belle's eyes flare open. She looks up at me, excited again.

"I'll put together a little picnic basket and we'll take a night drive." I say, and smile at her, I hope not too hungrily.


	6. Threats & Promises

I'm not a hyper-sexual person. I know my clothes from years past may have led people- especially guys- to think otherwise. But, in all honesty, I crave romance and a true love more than anything in the world. That's why I can't even believe it myself when I find myself coolly parking on a cliff near the wishing well in the woods of Storybrooke, with every intention of seducing Belle. I can barely hear what she's saying, even though I want to listen because I know she's funny and smart and charming, because all I can think about is how to make the first move. It's not me, it's the wolf. I know, I know more than anything in the world that Belle is not truly fair game. She doesn't have her memories back. In her heart of hearts, she might still love Mister Gold. I can't, in good conscience, lead her astray from making a real choice. But it's not me staring through my eyes right now. The wolf is very much in control.

"So you mentioned regression therapy with Archie. How's that going?" I ask her, watching the way the lace on her collar rises and falls with her breath.

"It's sort of mad." Belle puts the flask up to her lips I brought along in my hastily thrown together "picnic basket"- more like a to-go bag full of day-old brownies. "Archie keeps leading me back to the thing I want most, the thing I miss most, and then this image hits me-" she turns in the seat to face me a little more.

"Of what?" I ask.

"A beast." She lowers her chin and the fear in her voice wakes me. I'm stung. Does she mean…does she mean Mister Gold?

"A beast?" I whisper.

"This- this _huge_ wolf creature." Her eyes look faraway. "It's like a wolf but I've seen wolves and this is much bigger and-" she shudders. "It's terrifying. Glowing red eyes. It's running in the forest but its not chasing me. Its running away from me. But I want it to chase me. I call for it to come back. That's what I keep seeing again and again. Archie wakes me up when I start crying."

My heart almost stops. The wolf's cool, suave hunger is trounced by the revelation, which is making me tremble in my seat. I look out at the woods remembering a similar night Belle and I had had here the last full moon. I push the thoughts away and reach for the shift knob. Before I can start blubbering in front of her like a total idiot I grab for the keys and shift us out of park. "You know what, there's this sort of cool part of the pier we could check out, let's get out of here-"

She looks up at me, suprised. "Do we have to? This is sort of nice."

"Belle-" What can I tell her that won't break her mind in two? She's forgotten everything about fairy tale land. She's forgotten monsters are real, let alone that she went on a few dates with one before Gold messed her life up, again. Before, when we came here almost a month ago, when I changed into a werewolf in front of her and then ran away when she screamed- at least I knew she had some reference point for something that crazy.

"This is really nice." She says, and puts her hand on mine, and leans forward and our lips touch, her hand moving through my hair.

Okay wolf, your turn.

* * *

When I drop Belle off at her apartment in the early morning she clings to me and makes me promise to come back in the middle of the day, which I do gladly, unable to keep from grinning like an idiot. I'd park and go up right now and spend the rest of the day listening for her laugh but I promised Granny I'd check in this morning and see if needs any help since she's doing the morning shift alone. Even though I've had no sleep I'm fairly dancing up the steps into Granny's, where I can see a couple customers already at the counter with coffee. And suddenly a cane flies between me and the doorway. I turn to see the hard dark eyes of Mr. Gold.

"Good morning Red." His voice is soft, it's a power thing: he makes the whole room stop talking so people can hear him. Because people always need to hear what he's saying.

"Good morning Gold." There's a strong possibility I have several hickies on my neck.

"I've learned from my talks with Archie that you quite charitably gave Belle a job here at the diner. She's doing well I trust?"

"There was nothing charitable about it. We needed the help and she's a great worker."

"Is it typical for you to drop all your workers off early in the morning?" he cocks his head, his joyless, bloodless smile-that's-not-a-smile fixed on his face.

"Only the ones I'm having sex with." The wolf snaps at him. His eyes flicker and he takes a step back. "That's really cute that you follow Belle around, and not at all something a dirty old man does."

"This 'dirty old man' is paying her hospital bills. Her therapy bills. Her rent. Because she's mine, dearie. My true love. Do you understand? End it. Unless you want to see her out in the street."

"So you'd let your True Love sleep in the street?" I laugh, putting my hand on my hip. "She'll always have a place with me. Like she did _before_ she lost her memory, remember?"

"Oh, I remember." his eyes glitter and he squeezes his hand into a fist. In the very center of my bones, I feel magic seize me and hold me. My throat constricts, my guts are in the palm of his hand. I can feel the heat of my body drop and my muscles seize. It's a powerless feeling. It's a terrifying feeling. I stare at him through the pain, willing myself not to cry out. "I alone remember all the past and I alone see the future and I see I'll be wearing a wolfskin coat next week if you don't stay the hell away from her."

His hand drops to his side and all the pain vanishes. I'm left clutching the banister and watching him limp down the stairs to the sidewalk. I want to call some last jeer at him but I can't, my throat is still closed. I stagger into Granny's and Granny gives me a look.

"Are you okay? Red- what's the matter?"

"I'm fine-" I manage. "Let me just sit for a sec?"

"Is it because of the full moon?" she whispers. Please, everybody, stop asking me that. I shake my head and she brings me over a cup of tea as I lean into the booth at the window. Which gives me the perfect perspective to see Snow marching up the street, her hands in fists, her expression dark. This day just keeps getting better.

"Gran, I'm going to go up to my room. Call me down if you need anything." I say, heading for the back exit. She gives me a wave. "I've got it under control sweetie, just get some sleep." She calls after me.

I don't get to my room before the knock at the door. Stupidly, I must have left it unlocked because I hear Snow call up the stairs: "Red!? Red!"

No rest for the wicked. I turn on the stairs and tip toe down. Snow's face is puffy like she's been crying.

"How long have you known?" she asks when I stand across from her in the early morning light that filters through Granny's front window.

"Snow…"

"How long have you been keeping this from me?" Snow's eyes are filling with tears. When I don't answer she continues, her voice getting shrill like it does when she's really hurt. The sound of it wounds me."Emma needs protecting. Regina is out there trying to get into her head and turn her against me for whatever scheme she has cooked up next and you think Emma needs to just handle that on her own?! How could you Red? How could you not tell me?!"

"Tell you what?" I say flatly. "That they're having drinks together at the diner? It didn't look like Regina was using any of her _magic powers_ to make Emma seek her out night after night after night." Stop it wolf. This is not the person to be mean to. I feel suddenly awful as Snow covers her face with her hands. "Look I wanted Emma to tell you at her own pace, in her own way. I thought she deserved that much."

"I wish you had the same respect for what I confide in you, Red. Emma took off this morning when I refused to tell her about the beanstalks. She's taken Henry and gone over to Regina's house."

"Why don't you just tell her?!" I feel like I'm about to pull my own hair out.

"Because she wouldn't agree to it! You know she wouldn't agree to it. She thinks of this hellhole as her land, not the place she was born. She'd rather stay here and play house with a sociopath—" Snow dashes tears from her eyes.

"It sounds like the Enchanted Forest is the hellhole." I snap. "Emma told me last night the ogres are back? Is that true?"

Snow looks up at me, her chin quivering but set. I feel myself getting angrier and continue, my voice shaking. "If those ogres are back the first thing you should have done was call a town meeting and tell everyone we cannot go home. If those ogres are back, I'll personally burn those beanstalks right now myself because I am not going to go through another ogre war, Snow. There's no one here who would."

"Why do I have no credibility with you anymore?" Snow whispers. "We used to be a team. You would have faced down anything for me. Now you're going to give up our land because you don't have the courage to fight?"

There goes control. "It's _not_ our land anymore!" I scream. "_This_ is our land. This place has no magic. Do you realize how incredible that is? How freeing that is!? Do you understand what it really means when no one gets to have magic? It means you can't be bullied, or coerced or controlled or killed by the people who do. We shouldn't be fighting to get back to the Enchanted Forest. We should be fighting to get the last bit of magic out of Storybrooke so we can all be who we really are. Without the Blue Fairy playing god- or Mr. Gold playing with us all like chess pieces!"

Snow looks at me for a long, long time. I can see my hickey is registering with her.

"This is about Belle, isn't it?"


	7. Seven Giants

**Author's Note:Thank you for all the supportive comments and reviews on this story. It's made writing this so rewarding and exciting. I'm hoping everything will come together in 10 chapters. Thanks again everyone for reading, following and commenting! I really feel like this Ruby has taken on a life of her own.**

Wasn't it all about Belle? I wondered after Snow left. I went to room, straight to my vanity mirror, where a strip of photobooth pictures were wedged between the frame and the glass. From our first date. Sort of our last date. After she left Gold and we had kissed and then made out and it was pretty obvious whatever was happening had already started, we just had to name it. I took her to the nicest place in town (not Granny's, truth be told) and as we walked near the pier we ducked into a photobooth and this strip of photos is the evidence I've cherish, every day since, that at one point Belle- with all her mind, with all her heart complete- wanted to kiss me. And did. Four times (or one kiss, in four frames, in our photostrip.)

I managed a quick shower and long nap before I was supposed to meet her for lunch at her place. I'll admit I spent a really long time picking out my outfit. And that my underwear matched my bra.

* * *

Her apartment building wasn't far from the library, and as I waited for her to buzz me in I was struck by how new the intercom looked, polished brass. The door clicked open and soon I found myself in an apartment way nicer than any I'd been in in Storybrooke. Her furniture was elegant and tasteful and both her walls were covered with shelves and books. Mister Gold had laid out a lot of money to gild this cage.

"Hi." I said to her, walking in, my arms already possessively encircling her waist, her neck.

"Hi." Belle glowed in a white lace sun dress. I thought of her skin underneath it and shivered. What can I say, it's the day before a full moon. In another moment I had her against the book case as we tore each other's clothes off. When I had her bare I watched with hungry pleasure as her hands reached, trembling for the shelves for support, her eyes rolling back in her head as she moaned and then cried and gasped. Books tumbled to the floor, she wilted down beside me, the dress laying far off like a fallen flag of surrender, and I pressed my lips to her cheeks, her lips.

"You're an animal." She purred, her fingers digging into my bare hip.

"You have no idea." My phone went off and I thought of throwing it across the room, when I looked and saw Emma's name on the display. I sat up and, because I'm an idiot, took the call. I turned and looked at Belle, her cheeks flushed in the late afternoon sunlight, resting in the plush of a rich red carpet without a stitch on, the wine color perfectly outlining every line and curve of her naked figure, her eyes smouldering and full of secret laughter. If does kill me, just seeing her like that was worth it.

"Emma?" I said as the other line picked up. "What's going on?"

"I need you for official police business." Emma's voice is tough, professional, impersonal. "Can you meet me at the station in ten minutes?"

"Hey, remember how I'm not the Sheriff's assistant in a professional capacity anymore?

"I wouldn't ask if it wasn't urgent, Ruby. Ten minutes?"

I looked at Belle, a faint cherry glow tangled in light hitting the auburn strands of her hair. Her lips are still glistening and they smell, as I've come to learn, always like sugar. "Um…twenty?"

* * *

Emma met me at the door of her Sheriff's office.

"I need your sense of smell Ruby. It's a full moon and I'm hoping that makes it stronger."

"Geez. So I'm Storybrooke's K-9 unit, basically?"

"I need you to help me find these beanstalks." Emma whispers, stepping closer to me. I can smell white flowers with dark leaves suddenly, and my mouth twitches.

"What?" Emma asks, startled by my change in expression.

"Are you wearing Regina's perfume?" I ask, suppressing a smile.

Emma's cheeks go red. "Okay, your nose is clearly working just fine. Let's go."

* * *

I don't know what beanstalks smell like, is the thing. And I sort of am incredibly frustrated I'm not still with Belle. I won't be able to see her until tomorrow morning, it's too risky to let myself feel so much when the full moon is out. That's why I had so many plans for this afternoon, before Emma's annoying summons. I wanted us to make it over to Belle's leather couch. And her Eames' chair. And knock the rest of the books out of the bookshelf.

"Snow told me you've moved in with Regina." I ask as we cruise through the woods. I smell a den of chipmunks. Dripping leaves. The wet cardboard of a littered coffee cup and the acrid stench of the stale grounds clinging to the inside.

"I took an overnight bag with me when I dropped Henry over there this morning." Emma darts a glance over at me. "Thanks for not telling Snow about our…drinks before."

I shrug. "It wasn't any of my business."

"Well, thank you." Emma clutches the wheel. "I know its breaking Snow's heart but I couldn't keep lying to her about it. And Henry's ecstatic. It's like his birthday and Christmas all rolled into one. He was really missing Regina."

I can't deny how weirdly, personally happy I feel about them moving in together, though I too know its breaking Snow's heart. I look at Emma: she looks years younger, like some weight has been lifted, almost girlish. I could feel her nervous confidence, her sense of bursting pride when she said Regina. "Then I'm really happy for you." I say, and we share a moment of congratulations.

Then I feel them: I don't smell them, I feel them. "Stop the car!" I almost fall out of the car, I open the door so fast, stepping out into the air. It's not a smell that's caught me, it's the sense of something huge and alive and so close. A pumping, almost like a heart. Sappy blood being drawn high, high us above by some powerful, latent force that's stirring in the soil. I can almost hear the rooty tendrils unfolding in the dark of the wet earth below. I can feel them spreading towards us, leaching up the groundwater, visibly stretching their upmost leaves towards the sun.

"Follow me." I say to Emma.

* * *

They're already the width and height of sequoias. A vibrant green, like sweet pea stalks in early summer, fleshy like an elephant's leg, with the translucent hairs like a sunflower's stem scintillated in the shafts of light that pierce down through where they've broken through the forest's canopy. There's a line of seven beanstalks, and I can hear Emma's footfalls behind me slowing as she takes it in.

"Holy shit." She breathes. "They did it."

Now my smell kicks in: dwarf, their musky male odor and that metallic twinge of the deep earth that used to cheer me when I caught the scent of it in earlier days. Grumpy is running toward us, his eyes squinting, his mouth drawn.

"Private property!" he screams. "Don't trespass!" he comes up short when he recognizes Emma, snatches his cap from his head, an unforgotten gesture from our former world when faced with royalty.

"Hey." Emma halfheartedly gestures at the beanstalks. "I'm here as Storybrooke's sheriff to investigate this…private farming project on public lands." She seems wary of getting closer to them. "How much taller are those going to get? They're about ten feet away from possibly disrupting flight patterns."

"These beanstalks are under the protection of Mr. Gold." Grumpy folds his arms across his chest. "Their height won't effect anything in the surrounding world. They're cloaked by a magic force field."

"You still need a permit, buddy." Emma walks past him, drawn to the one closest to us. I feel like if I set my hand on it I would feel a pulse. I can hear the steady cadence with which the capillaries of the plant are drawing water to the top and pushing chlorophyll to the roots below. The soil fairly moves under my feet, the roots are growing so quickly. "Will these be as tall as the ones that go up to the land of the giants?" she asks him, her gaze searching. He smiles with pride.

"This is just how tall they've gotten in a month with just putting the beans in Earth soil. The Blue Fairy and Nova are going to come and sow fairy dust in the roots under the full moon they'll reach all the way home." He looks weirdly pleased with himself. "Something your mom would know all about, Emma."

Emma nods. "She's mentioned they'll be our connection to the enchanted forest. But how do we know that nothing will climb down?"

Grumpy gulps. "Mr. Gold is the one to ask about that."

"Mr. Gold." I snarl. "Is he going to be the one who burns the beanstalks so we can't get back down?!" I howl. The wolf inside me…it doesn't have a lot of loyalty to Snow, I'll admit.

Emma looks at me, struck. "They're… leaving me?" she whispers.

"No Princess." Grumpy takes a step forward, cap still in hand. "Your mother would never leave you. We're all going home- Snow and James and everyong in Storybrooke. To reclaim the castle. To take our land back. To have our happy endings and leave the Queen and her Evil behind, here in this cursed land."Poor Grumpy was always a little too interested in his burgers to take on the social cues going on at Granny's. He looks vaguely surprised as Emma's face clouds over and she takes a step back. I can hear her heart thundering.

Emma looks at me. "That's her plan? To leave Regina here and trap us all in the Enchated Forest?"

I nod. "I'm sorry. I wanted her to be the one to tell you Emma, but you had to know."

Emma turns on her heel back to the car. "Come on Ruby."

Grumpy is pulling a cellphone out of his pants pocket. I cringe. "Wait, Emma-"

"No, I've seen enough. I've got to get back to town." Her eyes are dark. "And see about getting a chainsaw."


	8. Saturday Dinner Rush

Emma lets me into Regina's front door with a spare key, her face still grim as I continue my rant.

"But Emma, think about it, you can't cut just them down. I mean, there are people who want to go back and that's their choice, the same way not wanting to go back would be our choice. I don't know if they're entirely informed about the ogres …But we can't take away the choice of going back for them. If we could just get in a room with Snow and talk about what would be the right way to proceed, we don't need to…" my voice trails off at the sight of Regina, in a t-shirt and tailored jeans chasing Henry through the hall.

"I got you!" she cries, bundling him up in her arms and covering the top of his head with kisses as they collapse to the carpeted floor. He's giggling uncontrollably, he grabs her wrist and goes "You're it! You're it! You're it!" when she looks up and sees Emma she sort of melts. Henry stumbles forward and approaches his birth mom with his hand upraised, they slap a quick high five and Emma beams at him. Regina pulls some of her hair out of her eyes. It's incredible to see her there, sitting in the hall, completely relaxed, uncharacteristically joyful.

"We decided to allow a game of tag inside the house to celebrate Henry's homecoming. Also don't go in the kitchen." Regina's voice, which is bubbling over with happiness, takes on a little bit of her usual sternness at the end of the sentence. She gives Emma a "Don't question me" sort of look that fairly zaps little old bystander me with its electricity.

"Don't go in the kitchen, Emma!" Henry squeals, jumping a little as kids will do when they're super excited and have forgotten to be cool.

"Can I run in and just get some water?" I ask Henry, and he nods before turning to talk excitedly to his moms, flopping into Regina's lap. Regina looks up at Emma and in my peripheral vision I can see Emma sink to her knees next to her, tussling Henry's hair with one hand while staring, awestruck at Regina.

"Hey you." I hear her murmur, and I wind my way into Regina's huge, immaculate kitchen. There's a curtain of ribbons just inside the door to the kitchen, I look up and realize there's at least two dozen balloons bopping around the ceiling. There's a rented helium tank and a packet of balloons are strewn on the counter, alongside a cake still cooling on a baker's rack. In colorful letters hanging from one side of the room to the other is a banner that reads "Welcome Home Emma!" and the sight of it tugs the corner of my mouth until I smile. My phone rings and I see Snow's name on the display.

"Hey Ruby…" she sounds a little shy. Whenever we fight she gets really weird about talking about it later. Sometimes she'll do this- try to skip the part where she apologizes or tries to make some resolution. "I heard from Grumpy that you and Emma came by the beanstalks earlier today. You didn't…" she's not sure how to ask. "You didn't tell Emma about…"

"Yeah." I say with finality. "Yeah, I did."

I can feel the chill on the other end of the line. "I can't believe you would do that. Red, I trusted you. I trusted you more than anyone."

"I told you if you didn't tell her, I would."

"You realize you may have cost me my daughter and her grandson?"

"Or saved them from being killed by ogres, Snow."

"Mr. Gold took care of the ogres the first time they came to our land." Snow's voice is furious. "As soon as he's back all that will be handled."

"You're going to entrust the enchanted forest to the protection of the Dark One?!" I clutch the counter. "Snow, listen to yourself. You're putting everything in Mr. Gold's hands. This is probably what he's been planning all along. His grandson is the heir to the throne and you're trying to get Emma, the Princess, partnered with his son. Don't you see what's happening? You're handing him your kingdom on a silver platter."

"Blame Regina for that. She put us in a position where we'd need Gold to take us home. To undo the damage she's caused to our land. And now Emma wants to be with her? Instead of a Prince? Instead of her child's father?"

"Her child's father? You mean Neal? Neal barely knows Henry. That's sort of a reach."

"Fine." Snow snapped. "If you want to stay here, then that's your choice Red. That's your precious, precious freedom to live here. I just really hope when you wake up and everyone but you and Regina are gone, you don't regret it."

She hung up on me and I almost shouted a response into the empty kitchen. I could barely reel my anger in. I strode out to the hall, where Regina and Emma were talking, their faces so close Emma's long hair was practically brushing Regina. I could just pick up the end of their conversation.

"…Mr. Gold. Who, I guess, is now in league with Snow because he's keeping them 'cloaked' according to Grumpy…" Emma was saying.

"Because she was worried I'd follow her back there?" Regina interrupted, cocking her head, one hand on her hip, looking on the brink of a fit of sardonic laughter. "Are you kidding me? Back to the middle ages? I'm hoping to live past forty, thanks very much."

"Emma." I said "Sorry to interrupt, but can you take me into town? I need to go to Granny's. Now."

* * *

The Saturday evening late lunch rush. There were people waiting outside to be seated for an early dinner and diners still enjoying lunch specials inside. Every stool at the counter was taken and the booths were filled to bursting. Granny saw me come in the door and sighed dramatically with relief. "Bless you child, you read my mind!" she said. "I need all hands on deck."

"Sure thing, I just need to do something real quick." I grabbed the white board markers for the sandwich board outside, stepping out into the afternoon sunshine and hunching in front of it, erasing "Chicken Pot Pie Today!" with my sleeve and replacing it with three words that sent the crowd out front completely quiet. Then I went into the diner, straight back to the chalkboard that hung over the bar and wiped out the price of our various glasses of wine. Drawing with the biggest chalk pen we have I wrote:

"OGRES ARE BACK"

In foot-tall letters. The bustling diner became quiet as I turned around. No more forks hitting plates or laughing conversation. Instead, about half of Storybrooke looked up at me and the chalkboard in wordless horror.

"In the Enchanted Forest." I said, my voice wavering but carrying over the crowd. "Just thought everyone should know, in case anyone is _planning a trip back anytime soon_. Might want to _wear a helmet_." I turned to Gran. "I'll take over orders for the booths if you want, or I can run the counter." Granny just looked at me, her face stricken. I heard a cup clatter to the floor and James rose to his feet, his face pale. The crowd turned toward him as he stood and walked over to me.

"Can I talk to you outside?" James said under his breath. I bristled, but allowed him to lead me by the arm out to the sidewalk. Another group of people were gathered around the sandwich board I'd just marked up. He lead me past them, they stared after us. I noticed a couple people waiting had gotten up and were running across the street, probably to announce the news at other stores on main street's busiest market day. I felt a surge of triumph that the news was spreading.

"Red, what's gotten in to you? I thought you were on our side." His piercing blue eyes cut right through me. "Snow called me crying saying you were coming back to the Enchanted Forest with us and now, what, you're trying to dissuade other people too?"

"I'm not trying to dissuade anyone. I'm just trying to help people make informed choices. If you and Snow are going to take people back to the Enchanted Forest, then you should let them know they're walking into danger."

"Mr Gold-" James started, but I put a hand up, unable to hear the man's name again.

"I don't want to know what Mr. Gold is going to do about it. I want to know what _you're_ going to do about it. Because I signed up to fight on the side of the good guys. Which is who I thought you and Snow were. Not to team up with the freaking Dark One."

James has nothing to say to this. I turn around and walk back towards Granny's, confident I can serve out some good dinners and objective information to the crowd that's gathering around the front of our diner.

* * *

"They say Mr. Gold is going to do something about it, but you know him- his help doesn't come cheap." I find myself saying for perhaps the hundredth time. The sun is starting to set, my legs and feet are killing me from running from table to table, but I couldn't just throw out the news the ogres were back without explanation.

"Well this is shocking. We had planned to return to the Forest once the Prince and Princess had the beanstalks ready for travel. But now…" the young couple in front of me looked at each other and intertwined fingers. The girl- I'm pretty sure she was one of Cinderella's waiting women in a former time, but those memories are hazy- placed her hand on her tummy. "We're expecting."

"We want to go back someday but-" the guy beside her clenches his jaw. "Just walking unprepared into a world with the ogres? Even if Mr. Gold could eventually take care of them, as you say he's promised- there's just no way I'll risk bringing our baby into that."

The ogre wars ended before I was born, but everyone in the Enchanted Forest knows the cost they took in lives on the land. A generation of knights and soldiers fell trying to keep them under control, and eventually things became so desperate the old great Kings- Snow's grandfather, included- sent legions of children off to keep the ogres busy on the battlefields, buying time while they fortified city gates. Rumplestiltskin stopped all that when he became the Dark One, and since his protection was withdrawn from our world the ogres had returned from whatever dark places in the forest and mountains they had scattered. It was like learning dinosaurs had come back to Earth, if dinosaurs had killed all your ancestors and you heard horror stories about them every night as a kid.

Emma and Regina are at their back booth with Henry. The thing about the falling out with Snow means no more endless free babysitting, I guess, but they look pretty happy hanging out as a trio. Henry is working on a macaroni and cheese and Emma and Regina are sharing a piece of apple pie when I walk over to their table.

"Hey." Emma gives my hand a squeeze. "you've been amazing today. This was a heroic thing to it kept me from having to chainsaw a lot of beanstalks."

"Thanks." I smile back at her. "Look, the moon is coming up soon, I have to take off-" I glimpse over my shoulder at the darkening street. "Do you mind just…if anyone starts asking Granny about the ogres-"

"I'll fill them in. I don't have the grasp on the history lesson but I'm one of the few people in town who's seen them firsthand." Emma nods confidently.

"I can tell you all about ogre history." Regina says to Emma, and turns to me. "You go on ahead and enjoy your…night hike in the woods." Regina smiles a wicked smile. My bones tremble in response to the thought of the woods. Running. The metallic ring of rabbit's blood in my mouth. The wolf in me can barely be contained at the thought, and the moon hasn't even risen yet.

Before I go the woods though, I go upstairs to my room, change into a black dress (it'll be easier to slip out of than my jeans and leather jacket) and send Belle a text:

_Thinking about you all day today 3 your animal _


	9. Me and the Moon

You probably don't think very often about your bones. You don't even realize they're there most of the time, until you jounce your elbow or find yourself staring at your hands. When you change into a wolf, you realize how much of you is bone, because they move. They stretch, and grow, and warp. You realize your whole body is stretched over them like the thin paper on the crossbars of a kite. And that your mind is just the bright flower at the top of a long, fragile stem. And once you really feel that, you can never un-feel it again. I can feel my bones start to shift, to tremble as I make my way to the woods.

I pull into a small parking area near the wishing well, near where Belle and I were last night. Call me sentimental. I step out of the car and the wind tears its endless fingers through my hair. I pull my dress over my head, and I'm about to unlatch my bra when the wind changes directions and I pick up a sent. A lizard smell underneath, with strong topnotes of dust and rusting old metal. I'm about to throw myself back in the car when I see him in the distance. I see him put his hand up, and clench his fist.

My throat constricts. Every muscle tenses. I fall hard on the ground and then the world swings wildly, the trees blurring around me as I find myself hovering in mid air. Gold walks up to me slowly, his cane making a tck-tck on the ground as he walks.

"Well well well." He purrs, looking up at me. "If it isn't the gossipy little werebitch." He cocks his head and I feel myself squeezed tighter. I glare at him, I'd snarl but my throat is too constricted. In another moment he slings me into my own car and gets at the wheel. Humming a bizarre little tune, he fights to put my low rider into gear.

"We're going to take a little trip. Not to grandmother's house this time, my dear. Deeper into the woods." He looks over his shoulder at me. "We're going to see about my new coat."

"If you can get my car into drive." I choke, and his smile drops, but just for a moment. With a little snort he grinds the gears into drive and I watch the blurry deep blue of the sky slip between the black shapes of the dark pines. I can taste blood in my mouth from where I've bitten my tongue when I fell to the ground. I can see the pale face of the moon staring at me through the car window, like a friend I was supposed to meet wondering where I am. I feel my bones shiver, even through Gold's magic. I need to- I have to change soon.

He parks inches from the line that runs across the road outside Storybrooke and stares at me. Then he looks up and stares at the moon. Then back at me. What is he waiting for?

"You should know what I have planned for Belle." He says at long last. "I've decided I will take her back to the enchanted forest, set her up in a palace. I'll be a busy man as the new Dark King, but since Snow and James have promised me a lock of hair in exchange for my ogre hunting services, I'll have the perfect ingredients for a very convincing love potion. It'll convince me at least."

He chuckles to himself and leans back in his seat, rapturously gripping his cane and looking at me, expectantly. He pauses a beat, then continues. "Of course, I'll have to drag Belle over the town line once before we go back. I'd hate for any pesky memories of her experimental phase with you to linger once we're together again."

My blood is boiling under my skin. My teeth snap together. I feel a hot wave of heat falling over me and the colors of the world shift to sepia tones as my pupils turn to slits. Before the wolf takes over some small part of me screams: he's _trying_ to make you mad. But why? Does he want me to change? Why are we parked this close to the line? I look at him and I fight the change back with every ounce of strength in me. Sweat beads on my forehead as I push it away. It's like fighting sleep when you're exhausted. It's like fighting gravity when you're falling.

"Ahhh now, you're controlling your temper. But don't you want to change? Don't you want to become a big bad wolf and bite my face off, Red?" he leans toward me and bops me on the nose, which makes me shudder. "Come on, dearie, let the wolf out. Let the wolf come play."

He cracks open his driver's side door and then the back door, pulling me out into the moonlight. This I can't bear. It's falling directly on my skin, with a magnetic force that makes my animal mind swirl out in my brain like ink drops in water.

"There now. Turn into a nice little wolfie and I can throw you over the line." His voice is dark and evil, and his fingers dig into my shoulders as he turns to face me toward the moon. My head is swimming. The moon is silently screaming down at me, making my bones jump and twitch. " Isn't it want you want, to be in a world without magic? You do know what a werewolf is in a world without magic, don't you?" his hot, evil whisper is right against my ear "Just a wolf, dearie. And then, eventually, a coat… Actually, I think I'll make you a rug and then I can make love to Belle right on top of you."

"Gold, what are you doing?" I hear Snow's voice- small, urgent, and her footsteps racing toward us. She's got her bow slung across her chest and a quiver of arrows over her shoulder. "You said we wouldn't have to hurt her!"

Gold looks at her and tenses. "Don't question me, Princess. You're going to get your daughter up the beanstalk tonight. The wolf bitch is the price for that. The plan will go just as well - maybe even better- if this bitch is on the other side of the line."

"That wasn't our deal-" Snow looks uncertain. I'm staring holes into her and she refuses to meet my eyes.

"Do you want Emma with you or not?"

Snow's eyes harden. "Make the call first." She says icily.

"What deal did you make with him?!" I scream at Snow. Snow tugs me away from Gold's grasp and holds me close.

"Sheriff Swan, I need you to get down here immediately." I hear Gold say into his phone, his hand still clenched on my wrist, but then he has to take a step away to get better reception. "Sheriff? Sheriff Swan- yes- its Mr. Gold- I've been attacked by a wolf. Yes I think…I think its Ruby…we've been fighting over Belle, if you must know- she ran back into the woods but I think I hurt her quite badly. Near to the beanstalks, as you might guess, I've been down there making preparations to go up. Please, if you could get a medic for me and maybe if you could talk her out of her current state…she's maimed quite badly…"

I was so scared before I thought Snow had been hugging me, but as I try to struggle away from her arms, I realize she's not hugging me. She's holding me. Trapping me. I rear back and snarl at Snow. The last expression that registers in full color is her face, when she realizes she's holding a wolf.

* * *

Blue. Red. Headlights. And then the sound, the bone crunching, metallic crack. I feel myself fly across the asphalt which tears at my bare body, leaving broad stripes of wet red from my hip to my knee, from my shoulder to my wrist. The cold air hits the tender rawness and I realize whats happening as I'm still sliding across the road, still gently skidding to a stop. Engine exhaust fills my nose.

Maybe even in my animal mind I was trying to stop Emma, if that's so then thank you, animal mind, it worked. As I look up at the blue and red spinning lights on the vehicle, I realize I've discovered something new: excruciating pain is one of the things that can keep me human. Emma leaves the car, looking white and shaken. Not only has she had the traumatizing experience of having an animal leap at her car, she got to watch that animal shift back into her semi-conscious Aunt Ruby, in her bra and underpants. The headlights hit me like a searchlight as Emma kneels by my side.

"Oh my God, Ruby, I'm so sorry- Ruby, are you okay? What did do to you-"

"No, it's a trap, Emma." I gasp. "They're taking you up tonight. That's the plan." The words are hard to get out. My thoughts are all knocked loose and rattling around my head and I'm still physically in shock. "I need to get to Belle. And you- you go get Henry, now."

* * *

I come to as Emma carries me into Granny's diner wrapped up in a blanket. She must have called ahead to get Granny to clear out the place, its empty except for Regina and Henry. They've put several tables together as a makeshift table and Granny has covered it with butcher paper. Regina hurries over to Emma's side, I see her dark eyes rake Emma up and down, making sure every bit of her is intact and uninjured. Emma sets me down gently on the table and then I see the two women embrace with a frank, necessary gesture, Regina's dark sleek head tucking effortlessly into the crook of Emma's neck. They're whispering to each other, very soft, so their words don't go past the bounds of each other's hair. Except of course, for me and my dumb wolf ears.

"It's okay." Emma says, comforting the Evil Queen. "Shhh,I'm here, it's okay."

"I can't lose you." Regina says roughly, ashamed of the weakness but unable to contain it. She looks up at Emma, a mixture of terror and fury on her face. "I-I can't lose you."

"Red darling!" Granny hurries over to my side. She's too strong to cry, she takes my hand and brushes gingerly at the gravel still embedded in my hands and tips a shot glass of whisky between my lips. I love you too, Gran.

"Belle." I say, after the burn washes down my throat, looking around the well-lit but otherwise empty diner, trying to raise myself on my elbows. "Where's Belle?"


	10. A Queen Without Magic

**Author Note: Wow, this one is going off the rails and getting huge ! I thought I could finish in 10 but I'm going to need maybe 12 to sew it all up, but I think the ending will be much more strong if I allow myself that length. Thank you so much everyone who is following & giving such encouraging reviews. This has been such a growing experience for me as a writer.**

Regina's hands are coursing with purple lightning like Tesla coils. The outside of Granny's should also be glazed over with purple static since Regina cast a powerful magic protection spell on the diner once we were all inside. I never thought I'd be the subject of a magical healing less than ten feet away from the cake stand and till that I work at every day, but it just goes to show: small towns have their charms. My eyes are going in and out of sepia, meaning that I'm still on the cusp of changing, but Regina doesn't seem scared. She tells me the magic will feel like a cool breeze.

"You may feel an itchy feeling. It's your skin growing back over." She tells me. I gulp and nod. I see what she means as her hands hover over the raw torn patches of skin, the sensation is cool like menthol soap, weirdly clean and calming. I stare up at our ceiling fans and the dirty ceiling of Granny's diner as my body gets knit back together by the customer I used to mentally refer to as Ms. Earl Grey.

"Hurry" I said with difficulty. "I'm need to get to Belle."

"I promise this is as fast as I can go." Regina says with a shred of impatience.

Then the feeling of cool healing flickers, and she makes a sound of surprise. Regina moves her hand again, the healing feeling comes back for a moment and then disappears again, like a neon light buzzing on and off. There's a loud cracking sound behind us, Regina whips around and looks at the door to Granny's, its blown in and wind howls. I prop myself up, painfully on my elbows and watch purple magic flying from the roof and the corners of the building like fallen snow blown off of fresh drifts in a blizzard.

"He's calling it back." Regina says, her voice alarmed. "Gold's calling all the magic back from Storybrooke."

I stagger to my feet, stuffing myself into the jeans and red flannel Granny had brought down for when I'd finished healing. "That means he's leaving and taking Belle. Granny, I need your crossbow-"

"You can't face off against him, Red." Emma clutches my shoulders. "You're not even fully healed. You should be in the _hospital_-"

I stare back at her, and the crease in her forehead deepens, but her hands release my shoulders, and her eyes fill with sad acceptance. "Okay, I know better than that." She says. "Well, you're not doing this alone."

"That's right." Regina swallows hard. Purple magic, like glitter, is being wicked away from her hands, from her hair, from her eyes, sucked like all the other magic in town in an inexorable whirlpool whose vortex is undoubtedly Mr. Gold. "You're- you're like, leaking glitter." Emma says, the levity of her words thrown off by concern.

"No Miss Swan, I'm leaking magic." Regina stares down at her hands, almost amused. "I might just be an ordinary woman soon."

"Hardly ordinary." Emma says, putting her weight on one hip. "Look, if he's taking magic away from you then you should stay here too. Me and Ruby can handle this. It'll just distract me if I think you could be hurt." The last part is almost a whisper. Regina gives her an arch look, folding her arms. "I appreciate the heroics, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." Even if her magic is leaking away, she still has the bearing of a Queen as she stares at Emma, and then turns and bends low to talk to her son.

"Henry, you stay here-" she's using a commanding , reserved tone, but Henry throws his arms around her and, after a moment of surprise, she clings to him, burying her face deep in his shoulder. "Remember, if anything happens to me-" she looks up at Emma, then back at him. "Then be good for Emma. Except when she tells you its okay to skip brushing your teeth once in while because its 'like camping'. That's her own personal quirk."

Emma smiles through a chin quiver, and then links her arm through mine when she sees me wobble on my hurt knee.

"Let's get your Belle back." Emma says fiercely.

* * *

It's impossible to be close to the woods without feeling the beanstalks growing. Their roots churn the soil, erupting through the surface in places like whale tails. We watch through a cover of trees, the police light and siren off. A few work lights are scattered at the base of the beanstalks, sending light the three stories of the ropy, fleshy stalks. None of them have grown yet. At the base of one of the stalks are a handful of Storybrooke locals who have decided to go up despite the ogres-there's about eight of them, not including the dwarves, hardened, tough looking types. Snow and James are working together to bind them to the base of the stalk, their eyes flitting apprehensively between the unsavory crew they're roping tight and Mr. Gold, who is standing with both hands upraised, directing the cloud of purple magic to move upwards, circling and winding its mass of clouds into an upside down hurricane into the sky and up into space, back into the Enchanted Forest, to presumably wait for him there. At his feet, I see delicate white lace peep from under Belle's coat. She's knocked out, lying on the forest floor.

A growl starts in my throat.

"Let him get the magic out of this world first." Regina says softly, putting a hand on my arm.

The Blue Fairy steps forward in her dark cloak, her stiff face pretty but remote. In her gloved hand she walks around the base of the beanstalk, scattering brilliant shards of fairy dust. Then she stands at the base and takes out her wand. Emma and I glance at each other.

With a quick gesture of her wrist, the Blue Fairy flicks her wrist. The ground around the beanstalk grows and suddenly it shoots upwards. The expansion of the uncoiling roots underfoot is almost deafening to my wolf ears. As the beanstalk grows, the men tied to the stalk are carried effortlessly upwards into the air, soon rising past the strong worklights and into the cloud cover, passing far higher than pictures of sky scrapers that I've seen. It's a way to save them from the incredible effort it would take to climb up the beanstalk to the Enchanted Forest- and, I realize with my knees trembling, the perfect way to get people up there whether they want to go or not.

"Holy shit!" Emma says, seizing Regina's arm. "Did you see that?

"Actually no." Regina says coolly. "Mr Gold has indeed cloaked the beanstalks from my perception. All I saw was a ring of men roped together shoot through the air…But that's good news." She looks out into the night, her eyes searching, glittering. "If he's got a cloaking spell in place, he can't afford to pull all the magic out of town. So even after most of it is gone, he'll have some small reserve hovering around him." She rests her hand on my arm again and gives me a hard look. "So don't just pounce on him, 's still a force to be reckoned with even after the purple fog has cleared."

"So am I." I manage to snap eyes are fixed on the limp figure of Belle, who is suddenly being lifted from the forest floor in Gold's reedy arms. He's dragging her toward the second of the beanstalks.

"One person to a beanstalk?" I hear Snow say to Gold, past the cover of the trees. "We only have six left and we haven't gotten Emma and Henry yet."

"That won't take long, and thanks to that bitch of yours there's about twenty thousand less of your subjects willing to return to the Enchanted Forest." Mr. Gold snarls, stepping away from the upside-down tornado of purple fog that dissipating into space. "Help me tie her up securely, I don't have any magic to waste."

I step as soundlessly as I can past Regina and Emma. They hiss at me to come back but my eyes are trained on Belle, small and delicate against the monstrous beanstalk. I spy a coil of rope, one of several heaps near me- just ten or so feet away. It will bring me within the glow of the worklights, so I move gingerly, holding my breath. I fall to my knees and crawl through the grass, grabbing the end of a long piece of rope and toe one end to the arrow in my crossbow, the other end I wrap hard around my wrist, binding it with frantic, shaking fingers.

The Blue Fairy makes a dutiful circle around the base of the second beanstalk, diamond dust falling from her small hands. Belle seems to nod in her sleep, her beautiful face immobile, perhaps feeling the energy surge in the beanstalk behind her.

"Once we get her up safely, and strip Storybrooke of the rest of the magic-" he points to the swirling vortex of purple fog, thinner and thinner now, "Then we'll get Emma and Henry, and without magic, Regina won't be able to stop us." Gold says to Snow, whose looking particularly petulant.

"And Ruby?" Snow manages.

"Can stay here and serve her slop at that greasy spoon. I won't kill her, since you insist, Your Majesty." Mr. Gold laughs. Snow's jaw clenches, but she nods, shooting a look at James, who puts his arms around her. Well, thanks for that Snow, I guess?

The Blue Fairy takes out her wand and stands before the beanstalk Belle is bound to. My heart is in my mouth. The world turns sepia before my eyes for a moment I'm so angry, but I take control of myself, breathing deeply. I can't turn into an animal right now, Belle needs me. I take aim with Granny's crossbow, thinking of my days in the woods shooting targets with Snow. I aim for the stalk, but as far as I can from Belle's nodding head, and pull the trigger just as the Blue Fairy flicks her wrist.

The arrow embeds deeply as the beanstalk surges upwards, the vegetable matter of the stalks healing around the arrow as it grows and giving me an even more secure anchor. It pulls me from my hidden crouch in the forest and send me flying into the air, pulling the rope between the arrow and my crossbow taught and dangling me over the forest floor like the end of a string tied to a balloon. Gripping with all my might to the stock of the crossbow, I refuse to look down. Any moment we'll move out from the treetops of the forest. 30 taut feet of rope are all that separate me from Belle above me, and certain death far below.


	11. The Dark One

With all my strength I grip the rope and swing through cold air, hitting the side of the stalk with a thud. It hurts but ultimately it's a better position, because now my weight is being supported by the still-climbing vines. I start digging in my fingers and pulling myself towards Belle, tied far above me. I can feel the edges of skin around my dried-out scabs tear with the effort, but I ignore it.

"Belle!-" I shout. I can hear commotion below me. "Belle?!"

The beanstalk abruptly stops growing. Mr. Gold must have seen my attempted hijack. Above me the moon, its rays undiluted, falls upon me with full force.

"No." I say aloud. I have to get to her. Untie her. Carry her down to the ground. Get her home and away from this madness. Or failing that, cling the stalk beside her and defend her wherever we go. But the moon is so strong up here, the purple tornado of magic whirling so close beside me. The world turns sepia and I feel the bones in my hands start to jump and tremble. "No! _NO!_" I can hear my voice turning into a howl. I can feel my teeth stirring and elongating in my gums, the palms of my hands itching and twisting, my fingers vanishing. Not now, not now- I'm sorry Belle, I'm so sorry-

Ten feet from the ground the world turns to color again, and I realize I've shifted in and out of being a wolf just before falling to my death. Ten feet, to be precise. I try to get my barings, taking in the scene below me. I'm hovering in midair, trapped in a bubble of purple magic that's saved my life. It's Regina, below me, who's keeping me alive, her face twisted in pain, her hands shaking with effort. Magic is draining from her faster than before and surrounding me in this cocoon of protection, and I can hear Mr. Gold chuckle at her effort.

"Well, dearies, I don't have to lift a finger here." He says confidently. "I'll just wait for your magic to run out and her to fall. Two little birds with one stone. " Regina, ignoring him, totters on her feet, her eyes momentarily flickering- I drop, three feet of free fall, but then she puts her arms back out and I find myself once again in a protecting bubble.

Snow is looking up at me, horrified, her hands knotted together. "Please Gold, you don't have to let her die. Set her down and we can continue with the plan." She looks to the Blue Fairy, who is watching with almost professional interest. "There must be _something_ you can do- throw your fairy dust or something. She's a good person!"

"You want a fairy to use the sacred fairy dust to save a werewolf and an evil witch?" I hear Blue Fairy say, her voice distorted in my little purple bubble. "That's not really in keeping with my duties."

Regina runs to Emma's side and clasps her arms around her, as if to hold her, to protect her. Suddenly Regina's purple lightning turns pure gold. She stands straighter, her face relaxing, and looks at Emma appreciatively, her eyes wide, laughing with surprise and joy.

"You're magic." Regina says.

"No, we are." Emma whispers. They intertwine fingers and Regina brings me down, effortlessly, to ground level in a moment that feels not unlike riding an invisible elevator. Mr. Gold is shaking his head.

"Impossible."

Regina flicks her hand and Belle, still unconscious, is down on the ground beside. I clasp her in my arms before she falls, catch her up in my arms like a sleeping child, tears falling down my face.

"NO!" Mr. Gold shrieks. He stares up at the column of purple magic beside him- there's so little left, but he puts out a hand and absorbs it. Snow runs at him, getting between me and the little, sour-faced man whose shaking with rage.

"You said you'd use the last of the magic here to get Emma and Henry on the beanstalks. You promised me. That was our deal, Gold! Do you want your dagger back or not?!" she shouts, and he pauses for a moment and wheels on her, furious.

"Open your eyes." He snaps at Snow, bits of white froth in the corners of his mouth. "Your daughter will always find a way to go back to Regina, that's been her fate since the day she was born. What the two of them have is the one form of magic I can't defeat-" he waves a hand dismissively toward Regina and Emma, who are proudly standing with their hands clasped, a sheen of golden light glistening around them. "What magic I have left is for me and what I want."

"Then you don't get your dagger." Snow says feebly.

"I'm sure I'll get that dagger back from you one way or another, Snow." Mr. Gold says contemptuously, and stands before me, a vein popping form his forehead. "But first, to deal with her." Purple magic fog is whirling around each hand. I want to run but I'm too weak. My bleeding arms and legs are already trembling just trying to hold myself and Belle up. I find myself on my knees, shaking my head. "Please don't." I manage. He waves one hand and Belle flies out of my arms and lands in a heap a few feet away.

He towers over me, and I can't get up but at least I can meet his eyes as he kills me.

"She won't even remember you existed." He promises, and raises a hand to strike.

A glint of silver in the moonlight catches my eye. Snow's removed a dagger from her coat and without a trace of emotion on her face she stabs it directly into Mr. Gold's back. Emma shrieks and Mr. Gold falls to his knees. He turns on one arm, wheeling to face Snow, his eyes wide, his jaw falling open, and manages one last bitter laugh. "Thank you, Your Majesty." He sputters. "You don't realize what a gift that truly was."

Snow stands over him, the bloody dagger still in her hand. With a cry she lets it fall, as it lays sparkling in the grass I can see carved dark letters on the blade shifting to read: _Snow White_. James runs to her but she takes a step away. Already I can see a scaly glisten creeping over her fair skin. "Don't, James." Her eyes are filling with tears.

"Snow, I'm so sorry." I weep, looking from Rumple's graying form to Snow's small figure, which already seems to breathe shadows. Her eyes are going black.

"I'm the Dark One now." She whispers. "I'm the Dark One…" Regina gulps and looks as though she wants to flee.

"Maybe there doesn't have to BE a Dark One." Emma says, catching Regina's hand. "Mom…" she says softly, and extends a hand. "Maybe this is the way to end the darkness." She looks at Regina, and Regina begrudgingly offers her own hand as well, inviting Snow into a circle of three. Snow's skin gleams like silver in the moonlight and she shies away from them, like a magnet pulses away from another magnet with the same charge.

"I can't." she croaks, her voice thinner, reedier. She's transforming right before my eyes but I can still see a spark of goodness that's not extinguished. Like the last glint before the sun sets and warm and light turns into night.

"Yes you can." I whisper, standing on shaking legs. "Snow, as long as I've known you you've wanted this- a mother who loves you. A daughter to love. It's all in front of you. Before the darkness fully takes over, I'm begging you Snow. Hold on to it. Hold on to the love inside you and it will chase the darkness away."

Snow looks at me, and then at Emma, and her face softens. As though she's walking through fire she walks to Regina and Emma and takes both of their hands.

The pulse throws me back onto the ground. I look up and see pure golden energy shooting outwards from the women, who hold onto each other's hands as tight as they can.


	12. Our Happy Beginning

I don't know where the light and the purple magic and the life-eating shadow went when it blasted out of them. Watching Regina and Emma and Snow joining hands it seemed like they shot all the darkness and magic that had tangled us up for so long right off the face of the Earth. Maybe it went back to the Enchanted Forest. Maybe it burned off into the air. The dagger disappeared, the Blue Fairy disappeared, and we all lurched back to the town hand in hand, arm in arm, like soldiers wandering off a battlefield.

I think the third time Belle and I fell in love was my favorite. Maybe it was because all of Storybrooke seemed so much happier when we all found our way out of the woods that night. Regina, Emma and Snow got me and Belle to a hospital: no more magic healing. But it was okay. Belle and I ended up in the same room, side by side, and though her memory had indeed been erased, we started talking back and forth from across our hospital beds. I admit I used what I'd found out about her from our past times falling in love to speed up the process (I got Emma to bring in all her favorite books. And some red roses.) We started meeting for lunch in the mess hall. And staying up late watching TV in our room. And racing wheelchairs down the hallways to the annoyance of Dr. Whale. And when some nurses found us making out in a supply closet, they told us we were probably well enough to go home.

Snow has never seemed so young, or happy as she has in this last year, the year that's passed since that night in the woods when she killed Mr. Gold and accepted her daughter and stepmom. She's not the dark one, and she's not the fairest of them all: she's just a person who's trying to make better choices and forgive herself for a situation that got way out of hand. I can tell from time to time she's gripped by regret that she had to kill Mr. Gold to save me, and an even deeper regret that she trusted him in the first place. And yes, sometimes when she and Regina are in the same room there can be some awkward pauses. But you can ask James: she's got her happy ending. Her happy beginning, really. They're both looking forward to getting to raise the baby Snow's carrying (4 months along!). She gets to spend every day surrounded with her friends and family, which I'm glad to say includes me.

When people realized you could cross the town line without losing all your memories, we said some hard goodbyes. There were also a few people who climbed up the beanstalk into the Enchanted Forest: adventurers, warriors, pirates, and people who for one reason or another missed magic. Yeah, I don't understand them either. When we were sure everyone who wanted to had gone, Emma and the dwarves finally got out those chainsaws. There are no more beanstalks anymore. And we burned all the beans.

The trade off is that the town's line being open means we've said hello a lot more times than goodbye. Storybrooke is _boomin_g. Families, happy families fill the houses and businesses up and down mainstreet are taking off. Little bakeries and diners and movie theaters and pubs and cinemas are popping up downtown, giving Granny's a run for its money. We're also getting a lot more business- we've had to hire a staff of ten to manage all the customers.

But don't worry, I didn't go straight back to work from the hospital. Belle and I went on a really long road trip together. We saw the Golden Gate bridge and the Great Lakes and the Grand Canyon. We stayed up late dancing under the stars in Austin and ice skated outside Rockefeller center. That's what happens when you save up for car repairs for 28 years: you build a solid little road trip fund.

We got back to Granny's about a week ago after five months on the road. We're staying with her until we agree on a place walking distance from my diner and her library. Belle is restoring the library and bringing it up to date big time with her fortune inherited from Mr. Gold. (She was his sole beneficiary! I told her it was because he was her grandpa. Is that bad? Ah well.) Tonight we've been invited to Emma and Regina's for dinner. The first time Belle met them after that night in the woods, Emma explained our friendship by saying I helped fix her and Regina up. Sort of true? They definitely returned the favor, I'll say that much.

They're not in the mayoral mansion any more, they're actually closer to the Charmings. Regina didn't run in the last election, she's way more into baking these days. We feature some of her turnovers at Granny's, in her special packaging with a commanding crown logo. "Regal Pastries" if you're interested (I think she's working out a deal where Whole Foods might start carrying them soon). Their new house is closer to Henry's school, open and airy, a little smaller but a lot more relaxed, with a big porch and two rocking chairs and music and feisty banter floating out of the windows.

We can hear them bickering while standing on that very porch, and I shoot a little smile at Belle, whose eyebrows are way up. "Let's not ring the doorbell just yet." I whisper to her. My hearing isn't what it used to be, since I stopped changing when magic left, but I don't need wolf ears to overhear these two:

"Emma, could find the time to put some pants on today? Our guests will be here any moment. Excuse me, you don't own pants, I meant your jeggings-"

"Jeggings?"

"You know you like to provoke me with those insanely tight pants."

"This from a woman who wears silk thigh high stockings and lingerie to bed every night?"

"Speaking of which, you owe me a new teddy after you ripped off my- Henry! Did you finish setting the table?"

Belle stifles a giggle.

"Help me with the banner, will you kiddo?"

I ring the doorbell. We hear the family inside shuffle around and then thrown the door open.

"Red! Belle! How was your trip?!" Emma cries, hugging me, but I'm a little distracted. Above them, a little uneven but still shining, is a glittery banner reading "Welcome Home"

And that's just what this place, this town- these women are.

_The End_


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